The 2026 UGC rules set of several claims and counterclaims by its supporters and dissenters. Among those claims made, many kept holding on to a claim that caste discrimination was not applicable to the upper caste category. Many even said that those with ‘upper caste surnames’ would never face any kind of discrimination.
Quoting such a statement, NDTV news anchor Padmaja Joshi shared screenshots of vile casteist comments for a post she made in 2023 when she was associated with Times Now.
A handle that went by the name Neelam Sumbrui had written, “A Brahmin woman anchor claiming that caste doesn’t exist and there are no statistics to back it up! @PadmajaJoshi You yourself are a statistic. Just draw a caste representation of @TimesNow employees and you will get the data where it is overwhelmingly upper caste.”
Quoting a screenshot of this post, Joshi wrote, “Convenient that people don’t bat an eyelid before reducing a person to just her caste. I am what I am not because of being a woman, or a Brahmin..but because I work hard. And the same applies to scores of my colleagues in office.”
Convenient that people don’t bat an eyelid before reducing a person to just her caste.
I am what I am not because of being a woman, or a Brahmin..but because I work hard.
And the same applies to scores of my colleagues in office. pic.twitter.com/Hvofcg4p1s— Padmaja Joshi (@PadmajaJoshi) April 12, 2023
And the comments abusing Joshi for her caste came in the dozens.
In 2026, when the UGC debate is ongoing with the Supreme Court putting the rules in abeyance because it found the rules vague and could lead to some other problems, Joshi shared screenshots of those comments with the quote, “‘Upper caste social capital makes you immune to caste abuse’. Meanwhile…”
‘Upper caste social capital makes you immune to caste abuse’. Meanwhile… pic.twitter.com/G0l5aKw26b
— Padmaja Joshi (@PadmajaJoshi) January 29, 2026
This goes to show that people saw Brahmins by their caste name rather than the work they have done and these abuses also show that whether or not one has a Brahmin or an OBC surname, the abuse is inherent. This disproves the theory and claim that upper caste surname leaves one immune to caste abuse when it is clearly not.
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